Page 15 of The Mountain Man's Flame

“Not until she’s awake,” Aiden argues. “I want to be here when she comes to.”

It slowly registers that I should try to open my eyes and talk to him. Before I can do that, the darkness reclaims me, and I drift into a dreamless sleep.

I don’t know how long I sleep for again, but I’m woken this time by the sound of Aiden’s voice. “Hey, my angel. Can you hear me? I’m right here. I haven’t left you.”

I manage to force my eyelids open this time and I’m greeted by the sight of Aiden’s smiling face. He’s lying near me on his side and the relief that fills his face tells me I must have been asleep for a long time. It’s weird though. The couch in the lounge was never this warm.

“Thank God,” he murmurs and presses soft kisses to my knuckles. When he raises my hand, I see the IV in the back of his.That’s when I understand that we’re not in the library anymore. We’re in the hospital and his bed is pushed against mine.

“You have a needle,” I murmur. “I don’t like it. Are you hurt badly? You should take pain meds. I heard them tell you to.”

He chuckles then abruptly stops. “You have one too.”

I glance down at my other hand to see he’s right. I wiggle my toes. Or at least, I think I do. “Are we OK?”

“Yeah, you have a concussion. You’re down one spleen and have a collapsed lung. Doc says you’ll make a full recovery in a few weeks.”

Relief courses through me. That doesn’t sound like the best of news, but at least I didn’t lose any of my limbs. “And you?” I press, realizing he didn’t give me any details about how he’s feeling.

“One concussion, a broken leg, and two fractured vertebrae. It’ll be about three months, but everything should heal up without the need for surgery.”

“What about firefighting?” I know from the conversations we’ve had over the past week that it’s not just a job to him. It’s his passion.

“I’ve got a better than ninety percent chance of returning to it,” he squeezes my hand. “We made it out, sweetheart.”

Something occurs to me. “Did you know your back was injured when you moved all of that stuff off of me?”

He worked tirelessly for hours before Ben showed up. Even after that, he continued to move the debris. He never once took a break or complained.

“You were worth every moment of pain,” he quietly reassures. “I’d do it again without hesitating. I love you, Nova and that means I will always put you above myself. I’ll never leave you, angel.”

He cups my face and I lean into his touch. “For me, love always meant being left behind. But I don’t want to let that fear control me anymore. I need you and I love you, Aiden.”

He gives me a grin. “I know I’ve asked this one before but how do you feel about outdoor proposals?”

9

AIDEN

“What’s this?”I ask King as I inspect the new HVAC unit that’s being set up. King is a buddy of mine that owns a construction company. He’s also the president of a bad ass motorcycle club in Dirty, North Carolina.

“Place needed it,” he answers, stomping out a cigarette. When I called him up and told him about the library, he volunteered the help of his entire crew to get it restored. So far, they’ve repaired the ceiling, put on a new roof, and gotten the wiring up to code.

He’s doing all of this on his own dime. King might be the kind of man you don’t want to meet in a dark alley, but he’s got a heart of gold when it comes to his friends.

When he first inspected the place, he told me that it would probably be easier to tear it down and rebuild from the ground up. But I told him this was my woman’s favorite place on earth.

He sighed and muttered something about another one biting the dust. Within two days, he had his guys in here.

If the project continues to go this smoothly, then the library will be open to the residents of Mount Bliss again soon.

At first, some of the townspeople were a little hesitant about King and his crew with their motorcycles, vests, and tattoos. Butwhen I vouched for them, the tide quickly changed. It’s good to know the people here respect and value my opinion since I plan to stay for the rest of my life. Right by my woman.

I’ve already moved Nova into my cabin. I did that the day after I was discharged. My brother Crew and his fiancée Maggie have been amazing. They stayed at the hospital with me and Nova.

When it was time to go home, they were the ones that helped Nova get settled into my cabin while I was regulated to watching from the sidelines. But the back brace and taking it easy for the past three months have worked out well. This afternoon, I got the all-clear from the doctor to return to all of my normal activities.

It’s a damn good thing too. Nova wanted to wait on sex until my back completely healed. She was worried about making it worse, which means I’ve had a ninety-day hard-on. A situation I plan to remedy tonight.

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